Newspaper Page Text
Contents
Sou
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Diocese of,
Savannah
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hern
(TOSS
News 1-3
Commentary 4-5
Around the Diocese 6-7
Faith Alive! . 8-9
Notices 10-11
Last But Not Least 12
Vol. 79, No. 29
Thursday, September 2,1999
$.50 PER ISSUE
Diocese joins with “Leave a Legacy Georgia
By Pat Signs
I f you give to your parish or diocese, the United
Way, Nazareth Home, Covenant House, etc., you
are among the 70% nationwide who contribute to
charity each year. Statistics show, however, that only
5.7% of the above number plan a charitable bequest
to those organizations that they are now supporting.
To increase awareness of charitable giving
through bequests among our parishioners in south
Georgia, the Diocese of
Savannah has joined with 400
other organizations in Georgia's
first Leave A Legacy Georgia
Campaign.
This is a collaborative public
awareness effort between local
organizations, churches, financial
and estate planning professionals
and a variety of media outlets. Its
purpose is to encourage people
from all walks of life to consider
making a gift from their estate to
a charitable organization of their
choice.
To make a charitable bequest, one must first have
a valid will. Making your will is important even if
you do not plan to make a bequest to charity. It
assures that your assets will be distributed as you
wish, not as the state of Georgia decides.
Drawing up a will is not terribly complicated or
to promote bequests
LEAVE
<; t «» r c I A
expensive. Married or single; male or female;
young, middle-aged or elderly -everyone should
have a will.
Once you make your will, the options for leaving
a bequest are numerous: a stated amount of cash; a
percentage of one's estate; a contingency beneficia
ry (if primary beneficiary survives); real estate;
specific pieces of property - coin, art stamp,
antique collections, etc.; residual gifts (after all
specific provisions are taken
care of); trust funds (for specific
parish, school or diocesan pro
grams); annuity benefits; insur
ance policies and others. Your
financial advisor and attorney
are best able to help you decide
which method of leaving a
bequest is most suitable for you
and your family.
As part of the Leave a Legacy
campaign, you are being asked
to consider a bequest to your
parish, school or the diocese. In
100 years, it won't matter where you lived, what
you drove, or how much you had in the bank or
your stock portfolio. What will matter is that you
practiced good stewardship both in life and in
death; that you returned a portion of God's gifts as
a final gesture of gratitude.
As part of the Leave a Legacy Georgia Campaign,
Georgia PublicTelevision will air a special half-
hour program hosted by Mr Clark Howard at 7:30
p.m. on Wednesday, September 8, and again (for
night owls or those with VCR recording capabili
ties) at 11:30 p.m. on Monday, September 20. It
describes a number of ways in which you can leave
a legacy.
Pat Signs is Director of Stewardship and
Development for the Diocese of Savannah.
Bishop requests special
collection for Turkey
Savannah
B ishop J. Kevin Boland has sent a letter to all
pastors requesting a special collection for *
Turkish earthquake relief in all parishes on Sunday,
September 12 , or at another convenient time. The
money will be collected by the diocese, which will
match funds up to $10,000 from the diocesan tithe.
The total will be sent to Catholic Relief Services,
“the avenue of American Catholics’ response to
such dire disasters throughout the world.” CRS has
announced that it is committing $500,000 to the
relief efforts being carried out in Turkey following
the massive earthquake on August 17 that left more
than 14,000 dead and 43,000 injured.
Sister Mary of Victory O’Brien, IHM, Diocesan Archivist, dies
By Father Douglas K. Clark
Savannah
S ister Mary of Victory O’Brien,
69, archivist for the Diocese of
Savannah, died August 20 in her
sleep at Saint James Convent,
Savannah.
The daughter of Harry A. and
Margaret M. O’Brien, Eileen O’Brien
attended Catholic schools in the
Philadelphia area before entering the
Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of
Mary. She made her profession of
religious vows on August 15, 1952.
Sister Mary of Victory earned a
Bachelor’s Degree in history from
Immaculata College in 1965 and a
Master’s in library science from
Villanova University in 1989.
Before her assignment as diocesan
archivist, she served as librarian and
assistant archivist at the Philadelphia
Archdiocesan Historical Research
Center at Saint Charles Borromeo
Seminary. Sister Victory resided at
Saint James Convent while serving as
diocesan archivist at the Catholic
Pastoral Center for the past two years.
Sister’s Mass of Christian Burial
was celebrated on August 23 at the
Camilla Hall Infirmary Chapel in
Immaculata, Pennsylvania, with bur
ial in the Immaculata Cemetery.
Father John A. Kenneally, V.F., pastor
of Saint James, represented the
Diocese of Savannah at the funeral
Mass and interment.
Bishop J. Kevin Boland celebrated
a memorial Mass for Sister Victory at
Saint James Church, Savannah, on
August 30. At the Mass, Father
Kenneally said that “As archivist,
Sister opened many doors. Now she
has opened the final door that we all
must open — the door of death.”
Bishop Boland praised Sister
Victory’s tenacity in gathering infor
mation for the archives. “She left no
stone unturned” when it came to pur
suing documents and photos needed to
complete the historical records of the
diocese, he said. The bishop also had
words of praise for the Sisters of the
Immaculate Heart of Mary, Sister’s
order, for the care they gave her both
in Philadelphia and Savannah, and for
the archives volunteers, her cowork
ers, Saint James’ parishioners and oth
ers who befriended sister over the last
two years.
Sister Mary of Victory O'Brien/ IHM
1930-1999